A young projectionist, Buster Keaton, yearns to be a detective. When he is framed by the Local Sheik, Ward Crane, he must put his new skills to work. Although, his childlike demeanor leads him to be less successful than his ambitions. While his skills lack in reality, he makes up for these short-comings once he enters dreamland.
In May 1940, between 300,000 and 400,000 British troops were trapped between German forces and the ocean. As they attempted to evacuate the beaches of Dunkirk they fell victim to German Luftwaffe, the German equivalent of the American Air Force. German planes focused on bombing the evacuating ships and gunning down men on the beach. British battlecruisers were nearby the beach, however, they were unable to land on the shallow beach to carry the men to safety. The smaller ships used to shuttle men back and forth between the beach and the battlecruisers were dwindling and this led to the deployment of civilian vessels from England. This historic endeavor was codenamed Operation Dynamo.
Christopher Nolan’s new film, Dunkirk, follows the struggle of a few groups of men. The primary group is comprised of a band of men trying to get off the beach by any means necessary, portrayed by Fionn Whitehad, Aneurin Barnard, and Harry Styles. The second group is a civilian boat on the way to Dunkirk to rescue troops. The boat’s crew is made up of Mr. Dawson, played by Mark Rylance, his son, Tom Glynn-Carney and his son’s friend, Barry Keoghan. The third group we follow is a pair of spitfire pilots, Collins, played by Jack Lowden, and Farrier, played by Tom Hardy. The intertwined storylines conceived by Nolan provides an intense and immersive look at the historic evacuation of Dunkirk that was a pivotal moment of World War II.
I was a little nervous going into this film. With the resurgence of Star Wars films in the last 17 years there has certainly been some ups and downs and more downs than ups. I enjoyed the recent addition to the saga, but was unclear as to how this film was going to fit in with the Star Wars story. My initial impression was that this film would be the first part of a new trilogy, but I am glad that this is a standalone piece that fits in spectacularly with the original trilogy.
Ryan Reynolds has yet again found a bombastic, confident character that relishes every moment of screen time. To be honest, I found his style tiring right away when I first saw him in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. There is just something about his smug and arrogant demeanor that is hard to watch. Luckily, his tiresome foibles epitomize the role of Deadpool.
The only reason that I am writing this review is because I needed to set a standard for my lowest rating. In general I do not plan to write too many reviews that bash films without any constructive criticism. A tremendous amount of time and work goes into movies and sometimes they just do not work out. This film is an example of, possibly, the poorest execution of a film in recent history.
